I have got to say that onec you have one you will become hooked, the secret to surface lure fishing is to cast out the lure and let all the rings from the splash settle before you retreive the lure, then make it a stop and start retreive and once you feel the weight of the fish and only when you feel the weight of the fish should you strike.Pike are really crap at hitting lures on the surface so dont worry if you dont get a hook up from a take, they probably missed the lure altogether I find the best times for surface fishing is after the sun goes down on a sunny day or first thing in the morning as the some comes up